Tug-buckle



(No Model.)

R. L. HARKEY & G. W; BURGESS.

TUG BUCKLE.

No. 416,222. Patented 1m. 3. 1889.

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UITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT L. HARKEY AND GEORGE WV. BURGESS, OF RUSSELLVILLE, ARKANSAS.

TUG-BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 416,222, dated December3, 1889.

Application filed July 5,- 1839- To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, ROBERT L. HARKEY and GEORGE W. BURGESS, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Russellville, in the county of Pope andState of Arkansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements ina Combined I-Iame-Tug Buckle, Shield, and Loop; and we do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

Our invention comprises certain novel features in the construction of acombined tugbuckle and hame attachment, the object of which is toproduce a thoroughlyreliable buckle so constructed that when securelylooked, as will hereinafter be explainechit will be an impossibility forthe same to become accidentally unlocked, thereby producing an articlethat will secure immunity from accidents that often result fromdefective buckles.

This result we attain by means of the device hereinafter specificallydescribed and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,in which similar letters of reference refer to corresponding parts inall the views.

Figure 1 is an inside side view of our invention as applied to use. Fig.2 is a perspective side view showing the buckle unlocked and theposition occupied by the tug. Fig. 3 is a side elevation, incross-section, on a line with X X, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective view'of the casing A and the locking de vice B and O separated from eachother.

Referring separately to the various parts of our invention, A representsa casing intended to serve as a housing for the locking device and thetug, and consists of a trough-like arrangement open at the ends andprovided upon its rear end with a transverse bar a and upon its frontend with rivet a, as will hereinafter be referred to. The depth of thistrough-like casing or housing A is to be determined by the size of thebuckle desired, and is to be of sufficient capacity to receive the tugin addition to the locking device, which we will now proceed todescribe.

0, which is essentially the key of our in- Serial No. 317,534. (Nomodel.)

vention, consistsof a piece of steel or other suitable material of asufficient width to be snugly received between the sides of housing A,while the front end of the same is bent back upon itself for one-thirdof its length, more or less, and is then to have such end welded to thestraight or unbent portion forming the back of our improved buckle, andit will be observed that by thus bending the front end of the key 0 suchend Will lie parallel with the unbent part, and is to be sufficientlyseparated therefrom to admit of the free movement within said space ofrivet a the length of the space. To that portion of key 0 formed bywelding the end of the bent portion thereto we attach pivotally thefront end of tongue B, as shown, the under side of which is providedwith cylindrical tooth Z), of proper diameter to coincide with thesize'of the holes or eyes in the tug, and it will be seen that when thekey 0 is forced downward the tooth 2) upon thelower side of said tonguewill be forced into the hole provided in the tug. The rear end of tongue13 is provided with a suitable means for forming an attachment to thetug.

In operation, the locking device being pivotally connected to the openside of housing A, sufficient space is left underneath the rivet a,securing said locking device, to enable the free entrance of the tugoccupying that part of housing immediately under same. Rivet a is topivotally secure key 0 by passing through the slot formed by the loop inthe end of such key, and it will be seen that such loop will. act as aguide for said rivet and will enable the said key to have a slidinghorizontal movement, such movement being necessary to lock the buckle.The locking device, consisting of key 0 and tongue B, with itsinwardly-projecting tooth b, is rearwardly, when rivet a will follow theslot in the bent end of key 0 until it reaches the end of said slot,when by drawing the tongue forward the front end of key 0 will passunderneath the transverse bar a upon the rear end of housing A untilsaid bar, which is convex upon its inner side, is received by thetransverse concave groove upon the end of thereby securely locking thebuckle.

the key,

to be pushed- When our device is in use, it will be seen that as theload is attached to the rear end of tongue 13 the tendency is to drawsaid tongue and the key attached thereto rearwardly in such a manner asto more securely draw the end of said key under the transverse bar.

In order to unlock our improved buckle, the tongue B is pushed forwarduntil the rear end of key 0 is forced from under the transverse bar a,when the rear end of said key may be raised, causing the tooth b to bewithdrawn from the hole provided in the tug, when such tug maybeentirely withdrawn, or moved forwardly or rearwardly, when said toothmay be caused to enter another hole.

It will be seen that we have produced a simple though effective meansfor forming a connection between the endsof the tug. The housing orcasing A may be suitably ornamented, so as to form an attractiveaddition to the appearance of the harness, and such casing may also beprovided upon its lower and upper side with a suitably-arranged stapleor other means for forming a connection with that portion of the harnesspassing around the animal.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a locking-buckle, the combination of the key G, having its forwardend bent as described, forming a slot on its under side, and providedupon its upper rear end with the transverse groove, the tongueB,pivotally attached to the key 0 and provided on its inner side withtooth b, housing A, bent as described and provided upon its front withrivet a and upon its rear end with transverse bar a.

2. A locking-buckle consisting of the housin g A, provided upon its rearend with transverse bar a and upon its front end with rivet 00, uponwhich is pivotally secured key O, having its forward end bent so as toform a slot on its under side, providing a slot to receive said rivet,while its rear end is provided with the transverse groove arranged toreceive the transverse bar a, as described,while to the rear end of theseat is pivotally attached the tongue B, having on its underside tooth1), arranged to engage with a hole in the tug, while the free end ofsaid tongue is provided with a transverse slot, all substantially asdescribed, and for the purpose named.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

ROBT. L. I-IARKEY. GEORGE W. BURGESS.

Witnesses:

G. J. Ross, JoHN EMISON.

